In days gone by, the notion of modular construction brought about images of trailer parks in the middle of the desert. In that early era of modular construction, mobile homes were crafted as a complete package. A mobile home was a self-contained structure that included all plumbing, electrical and heating and air-conditioning systems. Typically, the same building codes applied to mobile home construction, except for certain structural elements where weight would be prohibitive. Because the entire mobile home was completed in the factory, the factory could control how the internal mechanical systems were integrated and assembled.
Modernly, modular construction refers to systems that are prefabricated and shipped for assembly. These prefabricated building components are intended to last as long as, if not longer than their traditional construction counterparts. Prefabricated components are used to construct permanent edifices. From office buildings to single-family dwellings to apartment complexes, prefabricated components provide excellent structural integrity, mechanical reliability and reduced cost. Cost reduction, as might be imagined, is realized by economies of scale where prefabricated components are fabricated in a factory. Factories that produce prefabricated building components also aspire to greater quality in their finished goods. As such, many prefabricated building components are produced to high quality standards such as ISO-9000.
There is still a great deal of evolution that needs to take place in the prefabricated building component technical space. For example, prefabricated building components that include plumbing still require manual assembly and coupling of plumbing included in the prefabricated component to site-constructed elements or to other prefabricated components. In order to support such assembly, the industry has no choice but to provide cover plates so that the plumbing connections can be completed during final assembly and integration of prefabricated components.
Another aspect that needs improvement is in the realm of fastening systems. Because prefabricated components are, in essence, fully sealed, there are significant hurdles in attaching one component to another or attaching a component to a structural member of a site-constructed element. As might be imagined, sealed, prefabricated components cannot be fastened to each other using traditional fasteners such as nails or wood screws.